Waterfalls are geological features representing a significant break in a river’s longitudinal profile where water drops sharply. Determining the “largest” waterfall is not a simple answer, as the title depends on which measurement is prioritized. The competition for the world’s largest waterfall is a contest between height, width, and sheer volume of water, each metric crowning a different champion.
The World’s Largest Waterfall System
The title for the world’s largest waterfall system, when considering the combination of immense width and substantial average flow rate, belongs to the Khone Falls. This massive cascade is located on the Mekong River in Southeast Asia, straddling the border between Laos and Cambodia. It is locally known as Khone Phapheng Falls and represents a formidable barrier to river navigation. The falls are a critical feature of the Si Phan Don, or “Four Thousand Islands,” region of the Mekong. The overwhelming volume of the Mekong River is forced through this geological bottleneck, creating an enormous and complex series of cataracts.
Defining “Largest”: Height, Width, and Volume
The difficulty in naming a single “largest” waterfall stems from the three primary metrics used to quantify their scale. One metric is height, which measures the total vertical distance water travels from the top of the drop to the pool below. This measurement favors waterfalls that plunge from high cliffs or plateaus, such as those found on escarpments. The second metric is width, which measures the horizontal expanse of the water’s front as it flows over the edge. The third and often most significant metric is volume, or the average flow rate, which is the amount of water discharged over the crest per second, measured in cubic meters or cubic feet per second.
Profile of the Record Holder
The Khone Falls system secures its place as the world’s largest by frontage, boasting an average width of approximately 10,783 meters (6.7 miles), making it the widest waterfall on the planet. This extraordinary width is achieved as the Mekong River fractures into countless channels and rapids, weaving around thousands of islands. The total vertical drop across the entire system is relatively low, only about 15 to 21 meters (50 to 70 feet), and it occurs as a series of cascades rather than a single, dramatic plunge. The falls’ immense scale is further defined by their average discharge rate, which is an estimated 11,000 cubic meters per second (390,000 cubic feet per second), a flow rate more than double the volume of North America’s Niagara Falls. The geological foundation of the Khone Falls is a series of resistant basalt and sandstone layers that prevent the Mekong from carving a continuous, navigable channel.
Other Global Contenders
While Khone Falls dominates the category of widest system, other waterfalls hold records for different superlatives. The world’s highest waterfall is Angel Falls in Venezuela, which features an astonishing total height of 979 meters (3,212 feet), plunging off the Auyán-tepui plateau in a nearly uninterrupted free fall of over 800 meters. Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe is sometimes called the largest single sheet of falling water, combining a width of 1,708 meters (over a mile) with a significant vertical drop of 108 meters. For sheer water volume, the Inga Falls on the Congo River has the highest average discharge, estimated at 25,768 cubic meters per second. Iguazu Falls, located on the border of Argentina and Brazil, also constitutes a massive complex, stretching over 2,700 meters and consisting of 275 distinct drops.